:''UbuntuNet Alliance is not to be confused with

Ubuntu Linux Ubuntu ( ) is a Linux distribution based on Debian and composed primarily of free and open-source software. Developed by the British company Canonical and a community of contributors under a meritocratic governance model, Ubuntu is released ...

'' UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education Networking (also known as UbuntuNet Alliance) is the regional Research and Education Network of Eastern and Southern Africa. It was founded in the later half of 2005 by established and emerging NRENs in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

with the vision of securing high speed connectivity, mainly optical fibre-based, for the research and education community - at affordable prices - that connect African NRENs to each other, to other NRENs worldwide and to the Internet generally. It was incorporated in 2006 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in the Trade Registrar of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry as a non-for-profit association of

National Research and Education Network A national research and education network (NREN) is a specialised internet service provider dedicated to supporting the needs of the research and education communities within a country. It is usually distinguished by support for a high-speed backb ...

s ( NRENs). Prior to the beginning of AfricaConnect2, in May 2013, UbuntuNet Alliance formally registered in Malawi. Today, the UbuntuNet Alliance community includes 13 NRENs in East and Southern Africa from Sudan,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, all the way to South Africa, covering a huge land mass of the continent. The Alliance has a close relationship with the

Association of African Universities The Association of African Universities (AAU) (, ) is a university association of African universities based in Accra, Ghana. With member institutions all around Africa, AAU provides a forum for cooperation and exchange of information on higher ...

, which appoints the Chairperson. The incumbent Chairperson is Professor Stephen Simukanga, former Vice chancellor of the

University of Zambia The University of Zambia (UNZA) is a public university located in Lusaka, Zambia. It is Zambia's largest and oldest learning institution. The university was established in 1965 and officially opened to the public on 12 July 1966. The language of ...

, who was appointed in April 2019.

Vision, Mission, and Strategic Priorities

The societal vision of the UbuntuNet Alliance is that of vibrant African research and education institutions, networking effectively in the global knowledge society. The mission of UbuntuNet Alliance is to ensure that African NRENs have efficient and affordable bandwidth for their member research and education institutions that enables them to participate in the global research and education networking community. The UbuntuNet Alliance aims to achieve this through strategic priorities that include the development and

capacity building Capacity building (or capacity development, capacity strengthening) is the improvement in an individual's or organization's facility (or capability) "to produce, perform or deploy". The terms capacity building and capacity development have often ...

of NRENs in all countries in Eastern and Southern Africa; ensuring that NRENs get access to affordable high speed connectivity by lobbying for improved national policy and regulatory environments; stimulating and supporting content networks; and making the UbuntuNet Alliance financially sustainable. UbuntuNet Alliance intends to build UbuntuNet fibre backbone network which will interconnect NRENs in Africa and connect them to the global research and education networking community through GÉANT, the European regional network.

UbuntuNet Clusters

UbuntuNet Alliance adopted an opportunistic approach that seeks to build the fibre network based on the potential for broadband terrestrial connectivity that exists or is emerging in the region. Two initial backbone development clusters were defined as UbuntuNet East and UbuntuNet South. These clusters are based purely on geographic convenience, taking into account the ease of interconnection. UbuntuNet East will interconnect NRENs in Burundi, Djibouti, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, and will connect to the global REN community through the submarine fibres landing at points along the eastern coast of Africa. UbuntuNet South will interconnect NRENs in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania, and will connect to the global REN community through submarine fibres landing at points along the south-eastern, southern, and south-western coast of Africe. Ultimately, these sub-backbones will inter-connect into a seamless sub-regional research and education network.

Membership

Membership to UbuntuNet Alliance is open to all bona fide African NRENs serving research and education institutions. A list of members is on UbuntuNet Alliance
website

Similar Organisations

Similar organisations elsewhere in the world include GÉANT, APAN
WACREN
(West and Central African Research and Education Network)
ASREN
(Arab States Research and Education Network), and CLARA (Cooperación Latino Americana de Redes Avanzadas).

References

{{Reflist

External links

UbuntuNet Alliance website

Educational organisations based in Malawi 2005 in Africa Internet in Africa National research and education networks Organizations established in 2005